The Biltmore Estate is a grand and massive Chateauesque-style mansion built between 1889 and 1895 by Richard Morris Hunt for George Washington Vanderbilt II and his wife, Edith Vanderbilt. The house is the largest private residence in the United States, with a 178,926 square foot interior floor space, and is located in Asheville, North Carolina. The estate was originally a 125,000-acre property that included much of the present-day Pisgah National Forest Biltmore Village, and the upscale Asheville suburbs of Biltmore Forest and Biltmore Park. The estate features carefully cultivated landscapes, natural and artificial landscaped areas, and a walled garden with rusticated granite walls.
The Biltmore House features elements from various historic French Chateaux, including the stair tower and hipped roofs of the Chateau Royal de Blois, as well as various elements from the Chateau de Chenonceau, Chateau de Chambord, and Waddesdon Manor in England. The house is clad in Indiana Limestone and features Gothic details, leaded glass windows, towers, ornate wall dormers, and an elevator tower, among other architectural details. Inside, the house features luxurious finishes, including carved woodwork, intricate plaster details, electric lighting and steam heat, multiple fireplaces, a large kitchen and laundry in the basement, many guest rooms, a grand banquet hall, bedrooms for staff, and a two-story library.
The estate was opened for public tours in 1930 and was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1963. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The estate remains in the Cecil family, the descendants of Cornelia Vanderbilt Cecil, George and Edith Vanderbilt’s only child. Today, the Biltmore Estate is a major tourist attraction, seeing nearly 2 million visitors every year.